New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1887-07-13
FARM NJ a N a CEMENT.
Planting Trees So as to Secure
the Largest Amount Of the
Best Fuel.
More Attention Should Be Paid to Provid
ing Cheap Food for Pigs in Summer.
Raising Trees for Fuel.

| Raising Trees for Fuel
Farmers who pay out the least money
for supplies are ordinarily the ones who
succeed the best. Prosperity largely
depends on keeping down the running
expenses of a farm. The farmer who
has little to buy does not have occasion
to sell much in order to supply himself
with the comforts Of life. Farmers who
live in a portion Of the country that is
sparsely settled generally buy and sell
to a great disadvantage. Nearly all
the products Of their places, except live
stock, command low prices, and for
some of them there is no market. They
have generally poor facilities for keep
| ing milk and making butter, and as a
consequence the latter is poor and sells
for less than half the price Of that
made in creameries or in large and
well managed private diaries. They
get but little for poultry and eggs on
account of the expense of sending them
to city market. Generally they have
no way of disposing of potatoes, garden
| vegetables, and small fruits it they raise
more than they need for their own use.
They must depend on the sale of corn,
small grain, wool, and meat for raising
money with which to purchase sup
plies.
a high price is charged for almost
everything a farmer living remote
from large town has to buy, and the
quantity of most of the goods is poor.
Wholesale grocers and the dealers in
various classes of manufactured arti-
cles keep grades of goods for the city
trade, and others ~ which are greatly
inferior-for selling to country mer-
chants. Freights are high on all
heavy articles sent long distances into
the country. The credit system large
~ prevails there, and the times of
payments are uncertain and irregular
The country merchant is often accused
OF charging axtortionate prices, and
the difference between what he paws
or goods and what he sells then for is
certainly large, "but taking one con-
sideration with another, his lot is not
a happy one" Farmers who live ina
part the country that is not thickly
peopled can exercise economy to the
best advantage by raising all the nee
essary supplies they possibly can on
their own places. By adopting this
course they will avoid the constant
trouble of going to market, save the
profit made by dealers in buying and
selling goods, keep out Of debt, and be
independent Of the trader and the
money lender.
No country in the world is better
supplied with fuel than this. We have
hard and soft coal, peat, and wood. The
price OF soft coal in most parts of the
west is low. Still, the amount the
average prairie farmer pays for this
inferior fuel in the course of a year is
large. If this is multiplied by the
years in lifetime it often represents q
sum OF money equal to the value OF the
farm on which the coal has been con-
sumed, There are few small farms on
which. $50 worth of soft coal is not
burned in the course of a year. The
coal bill for ten years is $500 and for
fifty years is $4,000. This money
might be saved, and many persons are
preparing to save it. Experiment has
demonstrated that ten acres of land
devoted to the production of trees will
keep a small family supplied with feul
by the annual increase of wood. OF
course the land is worth something for
the production of grass and cultivated
crops, but the trees, if planted in strips
on the north or west sides of farms,
will generally pay for the land they
occupy by affording protection from
wind or snow. They will also. greatly
add to the value of the place by improv-
ing its appearance.
In producing the most and the best
fuel, trees that naturally grow tall and
have but few side branches should be
selected, and they should be planted
quite closely. By planting them near
together they will grow to trunk and
not to branches. They will furnish the
best Of cord-wood, and the trunks will
be easy to split, as they will contain
but very few knots. Large knots occur
at the base of large limbs OF branches,
and are necessary for supporting them.
Open planting results in producing
trees with wide-sprcading branches,
whose trunks are full OF large knots,
and which can only be split with great
difficulty. Close planting produces
tall trees with few spreading branches.
The knots in the trunks will be small,
as most Of the limbs will die and
drop off before they have at
tanned any considerable size. Ash,
maple, and cottonwood trees can be
planted four feet apart each way.
When large enough to furnish fuel half
OF them can be cut out and burned By
this process of thinning room Will be
obtained fol the remainder to grow in.
Iall trees containing but few knots are
easily prepared for fuel, and they are
serviceable for breaking the force OF
the wind
Young trees obtained from nursery
where the seed was planted in rows are
much better for setting out than those.
found in forest and which can be had
for the trouble Of digging them up and
moving them. 1t is comparatively